Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 26, NWS Lake Charles, LA

April 22, 1997Hardin County, Texas

NWS Lake Charles, LA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 22, 1997, 12:51 PM CDT for Hardin County, Texas. It was in force for 69 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Apr 22, 1997, 12:51 PM CDT (17:51 UTC)
Expired
Apr 22, 1997, 2:00 PM CDT
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS Lake Charles, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Hardin County, TX

The radar

The Lake Charles radar (KLCH), 115 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:51 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 22, 1:30 PM CDTHail 1Kountze, TX

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 117 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 1997-04-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1498 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 1997-04-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 144 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
1498 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-233 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
595 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
144 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
184 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KLCH 221754 RRA
SVRLCH
TXC199-221900-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
1251 PM CDT TUE APR 22 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LAKE CHARLES HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  200 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...HARDIN COUNTY
 
AT 1249 PM LAKE CHARLES NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM 20 MILES NORTHWEST OF KOUNTZE. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 30 MPH.
HONEY ISLAND...WILDWOOD AND KOUNTZE ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
F8OR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Lake Charles, LA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 22, 10:15 AM CDT, 2 hours 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 22, 10:15 AM CDT, 2 hours 36 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHWEST AND CENTRAL LOUISIANA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LAKE CHARLES LA
845 AM CDT TUE APR 22 1997

SHARP SOUNDING THIS MORNING WHEN MODIFIED GIVES CAPES AROUND 4000
J/KG AND LIFTED INDICES AROUND -10. WEB BULB ZERO LEVEL AROUND 9300
FT. LOOKS QUITE SERIOUS...ANALOGY TO SITTING ON A POWDER KEG. 13Z SFC
MAP SHOWS FRONT ALREADY THRU COLLEGE STATION TO NEAR MONROE LA. SFC LOW
BASICALLY MOVING S TOWARDS THE SE TX COAST BY 18Z. WIND PROFILE APPEARS
TO BE SUITABLE FOR A FEW TORNADOES...NOT TO MENTION UNUSALLY HIGH THREAT
FOR LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. MOISTURE ALTHOUGH LIMITED APPEARS TO
BE POOLING QUITE NICELY S OF SFC FNT...THEREFORE WILL RIDE WITH CURRENT
POPS. PLEASE CONTINUE WITH SVR WORDING IN ZONES UNTIL THIS THREAT HAS
HAS PASSED. TEMPS LOOK REASONABLE BARRING ANY EARLY DEVELOPMENT. SFC
FNT PSG MOVING FASTER THAN EXPECT. CONTINUE WITH SFC FNT PSG AT 00Z
BPT...02Z LCH...04Z LFT.

         LCH T/T(EVE)/U/ 83/58/80 66(EVE)0
         LFT T/T(EVE)/U/ 85/58/80 66(EVE)0
         BPT T/T(EVE)/U/ 83/58/81 66(EVE)0
AEX T/T(EVE)/U/ 79/56/77 77(EVE)0

SFC FNT STILL LAGGING...WITH OUTFLOW BNDRY MOVG ACROSS AREA LATE
THIS MORNING AND EARLY AFTERNOON. EXPECT LITTLE CHANGE IN CURRENT
UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT.
06

The office that day

Everything else NWS Lake Charles, LA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 22, 2:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHJasper59 min
Apr 22, 2:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLCHNewton54 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.